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From: "Trip Wiggins" <>
Subject: [VASPOTSY] Re: Spotsy County boundary
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 22:44:49 -0500
References: <200312151319.hBFDJIvP007444@lists2.rootsweb.com>


Greetings. I am with the local genealocical society in Fredericksburg and
Spotsy County. We had a program on county boundary changes for our region
last year. As to Spotsy, "Spotsylvania, named for and by the sitting
governor, Spotswood, is created from the heads of three counties - Essex,
King & Queen and King William and covers the land between the North Anna
river and the Rappahannock. Its eastern boundary is established on a line
from "Snow Creek [on the Rappahannock] up to the mill, thence by a southwest
line to the river North Anna." This border remains today. (In 1974 a
survey was done by Spotsy and Caroline counties and a pile of stones was
found at the site of the old mill, just north of U.S. Hwy 17!) Of course
the western border was not defined, so I suppose California was cut out of
old Spotsylvania county!"

It's western border was added when more counties were created.
"In 1731 Spotsylvania was divided into two church parishes: "from the mouth
of Rapidan to the mouth of Wilderness Run; thence up the said run to the
bridge; and thence southwest to Pamunkey River; the part below the said
bounds to be known as St. George Parish, and all the other part above the
said bounds to be known as St. Mark." (The "bridge" is today's bridge for
state route 3 over the Wilderness Run. Pamunkey River, actually the
northwest branch of the river, is now known as the North Anna River.) The
eastern half was to remain St. George's parish and Spotsylvania county. The
western half would be designated St. Mark's parish and in 1734 be called
Orange county encompassing "all that territory of land, adjoining to and
above the said line [parish boundary], bounden southerly, by the line of
Hanover county, northerly by the grant of Lord Fairfax [the Rappahannock
river], and westerly by the utmost limits of Virginia." Essentially it is
today's boundary, running parallel to Spotsy's eastern boundary and
intercepting the Rapidan river at the mouth of Wilderness Run, then down to
Rapidan to the Rappahannock and up the Rappahannock."
Hope this helps.
Sources:
James R. Mansfield, A History of Early Spotsylvania, 1977

Mary R. Miller, Place-Names of the Northern Neck of Virginia, Richmond,
Virginia State Library, 1983

Merrill H. Morgan, Corrections to Published maps of County Boundaries of the
Northern Neck, Virginia Genealogist, Fall 1993

Morgan P. Robinson, Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia
Legislation (reprint; Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992)
and of course Hening's Statutes.

If anyone would like the entire article (with maps), I can email it to you
if you contact me. (I wrote it.)

Trip Wiggins
Fredericksburg Regional Genealogical Society
Fredericksburg, VA


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